Poultry feeder



July 5, 1949.

Filed Feb. 25. 194e F. J. woon POULTRY FEEDER 2 sheds-sheet 1 July 5, 1949o F. J. wooD- 2,475,070

' POULTRY FEEDER Filed Feb. 25, 194e v 2 sheets-sheet 2 Kw4? 2f H Innen/0r jralij Jai/006i y Patented July 5, 1949 UN-'ETEB ES PATENT OFFICE.

BUL'IRY FEEDER',

Franz. J..Y Wood, Des. Moines, Iowa Application Februaryi 25, 1946; Serial No'. 64938I (Cli. 11d-5.5.)

9' Claims. 1

Thisv inventioni relates. tof air improved, feeder forfeeding-'d'ry maslr 13o-young' poultryJ of the-type employing' anielongatedy and. coIriparat'ivelyr narrow hopper adapted. toA deliver`- feed to a: trough located adjacent. to: the lower and' delivery. side off the. hopper; in'l is supported an agitator for looseningl the feed: therein,` designed to; be arutomati'cal1y.v actuated byr ai movable perch operated.' byv the Weight; of thefowl as.. it sta-nds in. feeding. positipm It is tl'ieA object of my: invention to provide; a simple', durable and comparatively cheap.: device for automati'cally` and economicallyl feeding dry mash; toA young: poultry.

A further object of my invention is to provide in'. ar device'or eedingsdry mash to young poultry, includingI` a hopper and' feedin'grt'roughs, improved means for agitatingf the-` feed! within the' hopper' tov morex positively deliver: the`v feed: to: the trough irisuch a. manner thaty it'. mayy hef` consumed: bu the fowl withoutiwaste:

A further' object4 or my invention; is7 toe provide in poultry/ feeder of' the. typer having a supply hopper, a feed: trough and? an agihatorfto: assist the flow' o' fee'di from thev lziopp'eif.` to." the feed trough, improved means. which may be easiiy operated by the weight of small fovvi1 perched' in position for feeding: from the trough..

A further object oil my' invention; isf to provide inI a poultry feeder' of the type havingai hopper andi a feedingv trough, an improved' cover' for the hopper;

invention consistsl in.v the constructiom are rangement and combination. tlre'vamious parts of' the device, viz/hereby' the objects; contemplated are attained, as hereinafter' more rudio/set. forth, pointed out in my claims, aridil illustrated' in the accompanying drawings, im which :i

Figure i isy al plan View of my improved' poultry feeder, a portionet thetopi being abrolieni l away.

Figure 2 isf a; side. elevation of the same, a portion of oneside-beingf broken away:

Figure 3l is an enlarged d'etailt sectional' view taken on the line 1 3 or FigureZ..

Figure 4 is anl end elevation of mfy improve-d 'feeder'.

Figure 511s a transversesectional: viewA lralren.` on' the line 5-5 of Figurell.

Figure 6 isan enlarged detail sectional: View taken onthe line Si-Bi of' Figure 1', and

Figure 7" isa detail sectional: view taken on the line-T-l'of Figure 1.. f Referring to the accompanyingl (LiraWings,V I have used the reference numeral Mft-o. indicate the hopper of my' improved poultry' feeder com- 2 prising, side; membersv I land endmembers: |123 the, top and bottonr ci the hopper being;- operiJ each end ot each, sidef member isf provided; with a lateralJ flange; I 3,; Gseefl Eig, Y 3,) ;f thev end( members lf2.J are: Secured; to.: the sides bending the pout-ions- M around and against the flanges;V i3, in a' manner' clearly, illustraded the, upper ends of the ends- LZ terminating; a slight. distance below 'fhellpper end: ofz the-sides llt. The upper edges of. the: sides: |,l arefpnouided, withoutwa-rdly' exi'- tending flanges Iflr, Thefanges- |16) are'designed tofsupport, a cover lflgsaid coverhavingf its side edges bent around and under the; edges of the flanges@ te to form.` ciu-idas; and, also to. provide f supports' by.y means owhich; thehoppermaybe carried in: a marmerliereinafter made clear..

rihe cover is. formed, with oppositely incl-ined surfaces as; clearly illustrated The topi of the cover is provided: with'A upright supports, i8;I designed to support. a` Wire or: rod i191 which serves as: a handle for' (misiloiogl the feederand also to provide means for discouraeirxe,y the;4 fowls from roostingf on'` the cover:l The ends; oi the rod- I-B afme-I bentdownwamdliv.i and, fzol'ded under the. ends of the coverl-1f as; illustrated.

Theupper ends. of the danges.- t3' are; out away to, permit the und,eiJ-tlainedV edges, of, thel cover to slide longitudinally past; the said: anees.; whereby the cover' may be removed from', the hopper if so desired.

Atrou-g-h section- 22` is: supported beneath the hopper- I0-. Said seotoni consists Qfinclinedsides 2.3 and bottom portions; 24 a central portion 25 having: inclined sides: 2t proieetingupwardlr into the: longitudinal' center ci the bottom side of the hopper to divide the section to providea separate trough beneath each. side: member lili,y as clearly shown in Figure: 5i, The lower edge; of each side lit terminates above the portions, 2 4f ai considerable distance;l to prei/ide at Space? The upp edge of each. member 2'3- is` bent inwardly and upwardly tov formi guard plates, Zd with theirfree ends resti-ngf on menfrlzzers` formed? onv the lower sides of thefmembers lil.

Each of the guard plates 2&- is provided with openings 3|? through. which the fowl may feed. The guardsy serve to proventi them. from` standing in the troughs while.` eeding. By# the above de scribed construction rt wil'l be seen that feed placed' in the hopper HilfA will be: divided by the member 215 and feed separately' to each of the troughs through the spaces 21,1!1 a mannershown in Figure 5l with a thin; layer of feed 3'2- on each bottom member.v

I' -nd', howeven that there is a tendency for the material such as mash to clog in the space 21. To overcome this diiculty I have provided an agitator rack 33, said rack comprising horizontal rods 34, 35, 36, and vertical rods 31, the rack being supported near the inner face of each side member Il with the lower rod 36 supported in the space 21. The rods 34 have end portions 38 extending through slots 39 in the end members I2. The lower rods 35 are each provided with links 4l, pivotally connected to staples 42 supported by the top of the member with the links normally in an upwardly and outwardly inclined position as shown in Figure 5.

For actuating the agitator, I have provided the following mechanism. Pivotally secured to each end of the hopper I0 by means of a bolt 44 is a rock bar 43. Links 45 provide means for operatively connecting each of the rock bars with their respective rod portions 38. On the end of each of the rock bars is mounted a carriage 46. Each carriage is preferably a strap iron in the form of an inverted U having an opening 41 and a pin 48 adapted to enter any one of a number of openings in the bars 43, thus providing means whereby the carriage may be adjusted on the bars 43. Fixed in the top edge of each carriage is a bolt 49. Supported on each corresponding set of carriages 4B is a perch 5| secured in position by the bolts 49 loosely supported in holes 52 in the ends of said perches 5|, to provide a limited pivotal connection between the carriages and the perches. The perches are located near and parallel with the feed troughs for supporting the poultry while feeding from the troughs, The weight of the fowls moves the perches downward, which in turn rocks the bars 43 causing one set of links 45 to be lowered, and the other set of links 45 to be elevated, thereby actuating the agitator racks 33 to loosen any mash in the hopper to prevent packing of the same.

As the agitator rack is moved downward, the lower rod 36 also moves downward, causing a portion of the mash in the space 21 to be moved into the feed trough. It will also be seen that downward movement of the rack 33 will swing the outer ends of the links 4l downwardly and outwardly causing the rod 36 to also be moved downwardly and outwardly, as shown in the solid lines, Figure '7. The dotted lines show the rack at its upper position of movement.

By mounting the rack 33 near the side wall Il it may be actuated more easily than it could be if it were mounted in the center of the stack f mash, making it possible for small poultry to actuate the racks by their weight when feeding. By making a loose or pivoted connection between the carriages and the perches, one end of a perch v may be lowered without lowering the other end which in turn will cause the corresponding end of the rack 33 to be lowered as shown in dotted lines, Figure 2. By this arrangement the force necessary to operate the rack is greatly reduced, making the feeder more readily adapted for the feeding of young poultry of light weight.

Thus it will be seen that I have provided an improved poultry feeder of simple and cheap construction, having an improved agitator, and means for operating the same, so constructed and arranged that it can be operated by very young poultry and at the same time provide for positive feeding of the mash to the feed troughs. One or more small fowl on one end of a perch will cause the corresponding end of the agitator rack to be actuated without operating the other end of said rack, and thus prevent movement of feed into that 21 portion of the trough from which it is not consumed. The adjustment of the carriages provides for the movement of the perches toward or from the corresponding trough. The feeder is thus adjustable for use in the feeding of fowl of various ages and size.

I claim:

1. A poultry feeder comprising, a feed trough, a hopper for delivering feed to said trough, an agitator mounted horizontally within said hopper to reciprocate vertically therein, a perch near one side of said trough, means yieldably supporting each end of said perch to permit one of its ends to move vertically and independently of the other, and means operatively connecting each end of said perch to a corresponding end of said agitator rack.

2. A poultry feeder comprising, a feeding trough, an upright and elongated hopper, the lower edge of one side of said hopper terminating in said trough, an upright agitator rack adjacent to the inner face of said side, mounted to reciprocate vertically therein, a horizontally arranged rock bar pivotally connected to each end of said feeder, a perch having each end pivotally connected to a corresponding end of said rock bar, spaced from and substantially parallel with said trough, and means operatively connecting a movable portion of each of said rock bars with a corresponding end of said agitator, whereby the movable end of one of said rock arms and the corresponding end of said agitator may be operated independently of the other end of said agitator rack and its corresponding rock arm.

3. A poultry feeder comprising, a feed trough, a hopper for delivering feed to said trough, an agitator mounted horizontally within said hopper to reciprocate vertically therein, a perch near one side of said trough, means yieldably supporting each end of said perch to permit one its ends to move vertically and independently of the other, means operatively connecting each end of said perch to a corresponding end of said agitator rack, and means for guiding the lower side of the agitator to swing outwardly as it moves downwardly.

4. A poultry feeder comprising, a feeding trough, an upright and elongated hopper, the lower edge of one side of said hopper terminating in said trough, and above its bottom to provide a feed space, an upright agitator rack adjacent to the inner face of said side having its lower edge terminating in said feed space, a perch near one side of said trough, means yieldably supporting each end of said perch to permit one of its ends to move vertically and independently of the other, and means operatively connecting each end of said perch to a corresponding end of said agitator rack.

5. A poultry feeder comprising, a feeding trough, an upright and elongated hopper, the lower edge of one side of said hopper terminating in said trough, and above its bottom to provide a feed space, an upright agitator rack adjacent to the inner face of said side having its lower edge terminating in said feed space, a horizontally arranged rock bar pivotally connected to each end of said feeder, a perch having each end pivotally connected to a corresponding end of said rock bar, spaced from and substantially parallel with said trough, and means operatively connecting a movable portion of each of said rock bars with a corresponding end .of

Said agitator, whereby thev movable end of one of said rock arms and the corresponding end of said agitator may be operated independently of the other end of said agitator rack and its correspending rock arm.

6. A poultry feeder comprising, in combination, an elongated hopper having end members provided with vertical slots near their side edges, troughs for receiving feed from said hopper, a rock bar having its central portion pivoted to each end of said hopper, a perch having each end pivotally connected to a corresponding end of said rock bars and adjacent to said troughs, an agitator rack near the inner face of each side member of said hopper, the lower edge of said agitator rack terminating in a corresponding trough, portions of the upper edge of the agitator extending through corresponding slots in said end members, links operatively connecting the projecting end portions of the agitator with corresponding end portions of said rock bars.

7. A poultry feeder comprising, in combination, a hopper, a pair of troughs communicating with the bottom of said hopper and a pair of agitators within said hopper mounted to be actuated therein, means for actuating said agitator, comprising a rock bar having its central portion pivoted to each end of said hopper, a carriage adjustably and slidably mounted on each end of said rock bar, a perch adjacent to each trough and supported by a set of corresponding ends of said rock bars, means pivotally connecting each end of each of said perches to a corresponding carriage, and means operatively connecting a, movable portion of each rock bar to a corresponding end of a corresponding agitator rack.

8. A poultry feeder comprising, in combination, a hopper, a trough communicating with the bottom of said hopper and an agitator within said hopper mounted to be actuated therein, means for actuating said agitator, comprising a rock bar pivotally connected to each end of said hopper, a carriage adjustably and slidably mounted on the free end of each rock bar, a perch adjacent to said trough and supported by the ends of said rock bars, means pivotally connecting each end of said perch to a corresponding carriage, and means operatively connecting each rock bar to a corresponding end of said agitator.

9. A poultry feeder comprising, a feed trough, a hopper, having vertical side members, for delivering feed to said trough, an agitator mounted adjacent to each inner face of said side members to reciprocate vertically within said hopper, a perch near one side of said trough, means yieldably supporting each end of said perch to permit one of its ends to move vertically and independently of the other, and means operatively connecting each end of said perch to a corresponding end of said agitator rack.

FRANZ J. WOOD.

REFERENCES CITED The following referenlces are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,357,755 Wilch Nov. 2, 1920 1,480,497 Brandt Jan. 8, 1924- 1,615,492 Pratt Jan. 25, 1927 2,357,698 Stafford Sept. 5, 1944 

